Hazlewood nearing return from injury
Apprentice jockey Yedsit Hazlewood is back in the saddle nearly two months after sustaining multiple injuries in an early-morning car accident in June. Trainer Jose Corrales said that Hazlewood is working at Fair Hill Training Center and should be racing again at Laurel Park in September.
“It’s coming along very good,” Corrales said. “He’s already galloping some horses at Fair Hill and I have him on the Equicizer and his hands are working pretty good. He can switch the whip back and forth. He’s doing okay.”
Hazlewood, 17, was the leading apprentice rider at Laurel and had just earned his 22nd career victory when he and jockey J.G. Torrealba got into a car accident driving back from New York on the morning of June 10. Torrealba was unharmed in the incident, but Hazlewood broke several ribs and required surgery to have a plate inserted in his wrist.
According to Corrales, who helped Hazlewood travel to the United States earlier this year, it has been a gradual but successful recovery for the young jockey. Because of Hazlewood’s apprentice status, Corrales said that it is especially important to make sure he is fully healthy when he returns.
“If he isn’t, he’s just going to waste the bug,” Corrales said. “And even with all the injuries and all the time off, I’m still aiming to see if he can catch up to the Eclipse [Award for Outstanding Jockey]. It’s not easy, but don’t take the dream away from him yet.”
Hazlewood may accept mounts in New York or Kentucky ahead of the Laurel meet, but the immediate plan is for him to begin galloping horses at Delaware Park, one of his last steps before returning to the races.
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